The Peacock Emporium

Author Q&A

A Conversation with Jojo Moyes

The characters in the novel—Suzanna, Alejandro, Vivi, Athene to name just a few—are incredibly complex, though some sober and reflective, while others have a much louder joie de vivre. What led you to these characters, and how did this story come about?
I never really know what leads me to characters. Most fall, to some extent, into my lap—or at least their skeletons do. And then I build bits of them on top of that framework. Sometimes I look back and realize they reflect something in my own life—in the case of Peacock, I wrote it when I was adjusting to life in a small town after spending thirty years in London so I’m sure there’s a bit of me in Suzanna.

Family and class are both significant themes in this book—and in some of your other books as well—and we see Suzanna, Douglas, and others chaffing at their tethers. What is it about issues of class that makes it important to you?
I think if you live in England it’s very hard to escape issues of class, especially in market towns where the house you live in or the family you come from often give away your background. I suppose I just find it a useful source of tension as a writer—there is always someone in the wrong place.

Without giving anything away, the ending is truly a remarkable and unexpected twist. Did you know in advance that this is how you would end it, or did the conclusion come about as you worked, slowly revealing itself to you?
If I have a twist (and I usually do) I always plot it beforehand. I don’t think it’s possible to write free-form toward one. I wanted the reader to think of Athene a certain way—to see her largely through the eyes of everyone else—and then realize that the story they’ve been told might have been something else entirely. So yes, I always knew what I was working toward.

Suzanna flounders beneath her eccentric mother’s legacy, but eventually finds her way with the success of the Peacock Emporium. It is only when she takes the initiative in seeking her own happiness that she finds contentment. Why was it important to you to show this transformation, especially in a female character?
I think it’s become an undercurrent in my books—female contentment and emancipation through work! Or at least working out what you love to do. I didn’t think Suzanna was the kind of character who would ever be properly satisfied without that—she reminded me of some mothers I was around when writing this who poured their energy into soft furnishings or playgroups but were somehow always restless and dissatisfied. I think it’s such a gift to know what really makes you happy.

How did you decide to structure the novel as you did? The first few chapters highlight Athene’s wild beginnings, and then you soon turn to Suzanna’s much more conventional story. Did you ever consider alternating their perspectives chapter by chapter?
It’s probably the most challenging structure I’ve ever attempted—at least for the reader. I didn’t consider alternating the chapters because sometimes that can make the narrative flow a little choppy, and I thought the reader needed to spend a little time with the background. But I do love playing with structure so who knows? Perhaps I should have done.

You have written both contemporary and historical novels, and some, like this one, have dual timeframes within them. (The Last Letter From your Lover is another one, as is The Girl You Left Behind.) What attracts you to these kinds of dual stories?
I think the key difference with the older work and the work from Me Before You onward is the humor. Most of the books I’ve written since 2010 have a lot of humor in them. And I don’t know what attracts me to dual timeframes—really it just depends on the story that won’t leave my head and how I think it can best be told. The book I’ve just completed is almost completely linear, bar the prologue.

What are you working on now?
I’m just editing my new book, which is completely different—and a bit of a departure. I’m probably more excited about it than anything I’ve ever worked on. I don’t want to say too much but it’s set in Kentucky and based on something that happened in real life, and while researching it I totally fell in love with that state in a way I’d completely not expected. So I hope readers enjoy it!